A study of environmental disclosures practices in Chinese energy industry

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between firm-specific characteristics and environmental disclosure practices of energy firms in sub-Saharan Africa. It examines how profitability, size, and liquidity influence the environmental disclosure index (EDI) of listed energy firms in the region. Research methodology: A quantitative approach was adopted, utilizing secondary data from the annual reports of energy firms listed in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. Regression analysis was employed to assess the impact of firm-specific characteristics on EDI using waste management data based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 306 guidelines. Results: The findings indicated that Profitability positively affected EDI, indicating greater transparency in reporting environmental initiatives for more profitable firms. Conversely, firm size is negatively correlated with environmental disclosure, suggesting challenges for larger firms in effectively communicating their environmental efforts. However, firm liquidity did not significantly affect EDI. Limitations: One limitation of the study is its focus on energy firms in only three countries, limiting the generalizability of the findings to other sub-Saharan African nations. Contribution: This research contributes to the literature by addressing environmental disclosure practices within sub-Saharan Africa's energy sector, offering stakeholders, policymakers, and regulators insights to promote transparency and sustainability in the industry. Novelty: The novelty of this study lies in its examination of firm-specific characteristics and their influence on environmental disclosure practices in the energy sector of Sub-Saharan Africa. Using waste management data as a proxy for disclosure offers a fresh perspective on the reporting practices of energy firms in the region.

This paper aims to: a) analyse the environmental disclosure practice in the Serbian banking sector, b) determine whether the degree of disclosure is higher in the case of big, i.e. systemically important banks, and c) examine if there is a positive relationship between the banks' CSR practice and their financial performance. The environmental disclosure index (EDI) based on 15 variables was employed to measure environmental disclosure performance for the Serbian banking industry. The data were generated through content analysis of the annual and sustainability reports of a total of 10 banks, five of which were classified as systemically important banks for the period 2015-2019. The sample was determined by the availability of reports for the analysed period and the bank establishment year. The results show that the majority of Serbian banks discloses their environmental policy (74%), the undertaken environmental activities with the local community (51%), and the utilization efficiency of water, energy, and paper (48%). Although the findings indicate that the environmental disclosure practice among all banks in Serbia is growing, the reports are not standardized. In addition, the systemically important banks in Serbia do not have a better disclosure practice. The econometric analysis implies that the bank's status does not influence the level of environmental disclosure and that there is no positive relationship between financial performance (ROA and ROE) and EDI. This study has implications for policymakers and accounting bodies in Serbia in standardizing non-financial reporting and creating certain green and sustainable banking guidelines.

ABSTRACTWe developed an Environmental Disclosure Index (EDI) to capture a broad and detailed range of environmental issues. This comprehensive approach helps reduce the risk of superficial or selective reporting by firms. Using the EDI, we analyzed the factors associated with environmental disclosure practices among 220 companies in the energy and mining sectors in Latin America over the period 2015–2023. Additionally, we examined how the level of environmental disclosure is associated with a firm's value. We found that corporate governance is related to environmental disclosure. On one hand, larger, more independent, and diverse boards were associated with greater environmental reporting. On the other hand, CEO duality has a negative link with disclosure. Additionally, firms with concentrated ownership or a State as the largest shareholder disclosed more environmental information. We also found a positive relationship between environmental disclosure and a firm's value, suggesting that transparent environmental practices can enhance investor perceptions and market valuation. Our findings highlight that strong corporate governance can lead to more comprehensive environmental disclosure, a dynamic that has been less clearly established in the Latin American context, where governance standards and transparency practices are less developed. Firms with better governance are more likely to adopt sustainable practices, which may lead to greater alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and higher valuation.

The study was conducted to examine whether the financial performance really improves environmental accounting disclosure practices of NIFTY companies. For study five years annual reports were taken (2011-2015), environmental accounting disclosure practices was measured by computing an environmental accounting disclosure index and financial performance was measured by using proxies (variables) such as by NPM, ROCE, EPS, DPS, ROA, ROE, P/E, DPR, ROS and MPS. The relationship between average environmental accounting disclosure practices and average financial performance was tested by using multiple regression. The study found positive relationship between average environmental accounting disclosure index and average ROCE, average EPS, average DPS, average ROA, average ROE, average P/E, and average MPS; and on the other hand the study also found negative relationship between average environmental accounting disclosure index and average NPM, average DPR, and average ROS.

There is a growing pressure from the stakeholders, particularly government and international funding agencies, to publish environmental reports. Environmental reporting and disclosure practices are a means of communicating to the stakeholders about the impact of the organization’s actions on the environment. The reporting can be done in the form of financial or non-financial reporting. We have conducted a study on 50 companies on the basis of turnover from the list brought out by ET 500. We have studied the environmental disclosure practices of Indian companies and also the impact of different independent variables on environmental disclosure index (EDI). Based on a review of literature, we have classified the independent variables according to profitability, size, type of industry, financial leverage, multinational status and environmental certification. We have constructed year-wise pooled regression model with EDI as dependent variables and profitability, size, type of industry, financial leverage, multinational status and environmental certification as independent variables. We find that in all the four years, size and environmental certification are statistically significant at the 1 per cent level and are positively associated. This indicates that bigger-sized companies and the environmentally certified companies by an external agency disclose more environmental information. Environmental certification reduces the agency cost as it reduces the monitoring cost since the firms voluntarily follow an external set of measured objectives. No other variable was found to be significant.

PurposeLittle empirical work has been done on the effects of inclusive environmental disclosure and green supply chain management (GSCM) on firm outcomes. The literature on environmental disclosure suggests that it is a useful practice to improve a firm’s reputation and its financial performance and also to establish a dialogue with stakeholders improving environmental performance. Recent conceptual contributions in the supply chain management literature state that stakeholder expectations and informational needs increasingly concern firm supply chains. Thus, the authors propose that positive effects of inclusive environmental disclosure practices are enhanced in presence of GSCM practices. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachTo test these relationships a combination of primary data on environmental disclosure practices, GSCM practices and environmental performance, and secondary data on financial performance was used. A series of hierarchical regression models were performed to test the disclosure-outcome relationships and the moderation of GSCM practices.FindingsResults provide empirical support for the impact of inclusive environmental disclosure practices on financial performance but no support for the impact on environmental performance. Specifically, the more inclusive the environmental disclosure practices the greater and positive is the impact on financial performance in presence of GSCM practices.Originality/valueThis study provides empirical evidence of the joint effects of inclusive environmental disclosure and GSCM practices on environmental and financial performance. Doing so, it reinforces the recent conceptual foundation that firms should align and leverage on supply chain management for disclosure practice effectiveness.

The main objective of this study was to identify the impact of environmental disclosure practices on firm performance which is an emerging issue around the globe. This research relies on secondary data which was collected from published annual reports of listed companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). Data was collected from a sample of 50 companies listed under 5 sectors over consecutive four financial years from 2015 to 2018. The technique of content analysis was occupied when measuring the level of environmental disclosures. Environmental Disclosure Index (EDI) was prepared based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards 2019. This study employed a regression analysis for the data analysis. The findings of this study revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between environmental disclosures and firm financial performance. However, there is no significant relationship between environmental disclosures and firm market performance. The findings of this study will accommodate annual report preparers and regulators of highly environmentally sensitive industries in creating the grounds of environmental disclosures practice to achieve higher performance.
 Keywords: Environmental Disclosure, Global Reporting Initiatives, Firm performance, Content Analysis

The main objective of this study was to identify the impact of environmental disclosure practices on firm performance which is an emerging issue around the globe. This research relies on secondary data which was collected from published annual reports of listed companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). Data was collected from a sample of 50 companies listed under 5 sectors over consecutive four financial years from 2015 to 2018. The technique of content analysis was occupied when measuring the level of environmental disclosures. Environmental Disclosure Index (EDI) was prepared based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards 2019. This study employed a regression analysis for the data analysis. The findings of this study revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between environmental disclosures and firm financial performance. However, there is no significant relationship between environmental disclosures and firm market performance. The findings of this study will accommodate annual report preparers and regulators of highly environmentally sensitive industries in creating the grounds of environmental disclosures practice to achieve higher performance.

Recent years, a series of policies on environmental information disclosure is issued by relevant management departments. The author compares the data of environmental information disclosure from Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchange between 2006 and 2011, and finds that there is no difference between Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange in environmental information disclosure level before 2008 and the environmental information disclosure level of Shanghai Stock Exchange is higher than that of Shenzhen Stock Exchange after 2008. For listed companies, the rules on environmental information disclosure of listed companies issued by CSRC(China Securities Regulatory Commission) are more effective than that of Ministry of Environmental Protection. Therefore, the relevant policies for environmental information disclosure of listed companies should be formulated and promulgated by CSRC or formulated and promulgated by both of CSRC and Ministry of Environmental Protection. And this paper also provides empirical evidence to improve the policies design of environmental information disclosure.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the influence of selected company‐ and industry‐related variables on environmental disclosure practices (EDPs) of the large manufacturing Indian companies.Design/methodology/approachThe work was done in three phases. In the first phase, an index of environmental disclosure was constructed consisting of 23 items of environmental information. Opinions of chartered accountants were obtained on the importance of each of these items in making sound investment and other decisions. Using this index, in the second phase, EDPs in the annual reports of 91 large manufacturing companies were examined for a period of three consecutive years. Environmental disclosure score (EDS) percentages were calculated for each of the companies for all the three years. The relationship between EDS percentages and ten selected variables was analyzed with the help of the multiple regression technique in the last phase.FindingsThe results provide strong evidence in support of the influence of variables size, profitability, sector, industry and environmental performance on EDPs.Research limitations/implicationsThe work involves analysis of EDPs of large manufacturing companies in India only. Non‐manufacturing and small companies were excluded from the scope of the work. Disclosure of environmental information by other media like stand‐alone corporate environmental report (CER) and internet was not considered. It was felt that further research was necessary to find the impact of other factors like country origin, organizational culture, experience with pressure groups and media profile on disclosure practices.Practical implicationsIt was felt that environmental reporting should be made mandatory in India at least in the major polluting industries. Companies should also voluntarily try to provide audited environmental information in the annual reports to build credibility and trust among corporate stakeholders.Originality/valueThe paper presents empirical evidence of EDPs of large manufacturing companies in India. It provides an insight into the factors that cause a difference in these practices.

PurposeThis study aims to revisit the corporate social and environmental disclosure (CSED) practices of Pakistani companies using unique CSED index which measures the CSED through three dimensions such as theme, news type and nature of information. In addition, the effect of board composition, ownership structure and corporate characteristics on CSED was tested through performing multiple regression analysis.Design/methodology/approachFor this purpose, data were collected from annual reports of top 120 companies’ selected based on market capitalization for three years period of 2013-2015.FindingsBased on the descriptive statistics, the results found that overall level of CSED in Pakistan is moderate. However considering CSED using three dimensions, the results demonstrate that highest level of disclosure on the basis of theme is reported in terms of human resource category as compared to other categories where, as in terms of news type and nature of information, analysis shows that companies in Pakistan feel resistant to disclose bad news, monetary and non-monetary aspect of CSED information. Using multiple regression analysis, the results found that all the variables have hypothesized relationship with CSED except government and institutional ownership. The variables such as chairman as non-executive director, board diversity, appointment of independent director as audit committee chairman, CSR committee, industry type and firm size are found to have significant influence on the CSED practices in Pakistan.Research limitations/implicationsThese results imply that the CSED phenomenon is still lacking behind. Under individual categories of CSED, descriptive statistics found that environment is still not a matter of concern for companies operating in Pakistan. In addition, the results demonstrate that CSED practices are only performed by very few companies in Pakistan based on standard deviation. In addition, appointment of non-executive and independent director as chairman of board and audit committee and representation of foreigners on the board should be encouraged in order to improve CSED practices in Pakistan.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature in developing country like Pakistan through using unique CSED index and also making comparison of financial versus non-financial sectors. The author suggests that regulatory authorities in Pakistan must take reasonable steps to make the company’s operations environment-friendly.

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of corporate governance factors and company specific characteristics of environmental disclosure in a developing country, namely, India. Design / Methodology/ Approach-A static and GMM-based dynamic panel data regression analysis is used to measure the ecological practices by considering the sample size of 100 non-financial listed companies taken from the National Stock Exchange between 2010 to 2021. Findings-Using two-step dynamic panel data GMM-based estimation, the study finds that governance factors like board size and board meetings are showing a positive effect on disclosure practices. whereas, in the case of an independent director a negative influence can be seen. But in the case of the squared term of independent director, there remains a positive effect on environmental activities. However, in the case of company specific characteristics firm age and the debt-equity ratio are positively influencing environmental activities where as firm size is found to influence negatively on disclosure practices. Originality/value-This study improves the mounting literature on the association between corporate governance factors, company specific characteristics, and environmental practices from an emerging economy standpoint. Specifically, the study inspects the dynamism and endogeneity effect along with the non-linear effect of different independent factors on environmental disclosure.

This study strives to identify the level of corporate environmental disclosures and their relationship with various corporate attributes using secondary data sources. The data for this study were collected under the dichotomous procedure through content analysis of the annual reports of 190 companies. The statistical results depict that the practice of the Environmental Disclosure Index (EDI) is poor, with the banking sector securing the highest and the IT sector unveils the lowest EDI observed under the study. The regression model implies that company category, company nature, profit after tax, dividend nature, ISO 14001 certification, company age, capital employed, and total revenue are statistically significant. However, net assets value per share and multi-nationality are statistically insignificant. The research will provide valuable guidance to policymakers in formulating appropriate policies for safeguarding society through the protection and reduction of environmental degradation. It will improve the livability of the Earth for future generations. Additionally, it will aid the corporate sector in implementing measures to reduce environmental pollution resulting from their activities. This research investigates the intensity of environmental consciousness among corporations in Bangladesh and reveals the link between corporate attributes and environmental disclosure.

In the light of global warming and environmental concerns across the globe, environmental accounting and reporting has now become an emerging reality and necessity of the corporate world. Considering the same, the present paper is based on an exploratory study carried out to have an understanding of the nature and extent of environmental reporting practices followed by the market leaders (MLs). An attempt has been made to analyse the annual reports of the selected companies in order to examine their environmental disclosure practices with reference to the type of the disclosure, section where such disclosure is made and the extent of mandatory and voluntary disclosures made. An index of environmental disclosure, listing 23 items of information, was constructed after surveying the literature to find out the nature of disclosure practices in these companies. This index was further sub-divided into three groups to find out the thrust of environmental disclosures by the sample companies. It was found that majority of the MLs reported the mandatory environmental information in the ‘Director's Report’, whereas the voluntary information was disclosed either in the ‘Highlights’ or in the ‘Dedicated Section’ of the annual report, followed by the ‘Management Discussion Analysis’ and the ‘Corporate Governance Report’ sections. A growing trend of reporting environmental information voluntarily was observed. Almost all the MLs have had environmental management systems in place by 2013. All except one ML prepared the business responsibility report, as mandated by the Securities Exchange Board of India. Further, neither the firm nor the governance characteristics had any significant impact on the environmental performance of the MLs. Hence, it was concluded that steps taken by the MLs towards environmental conservation was independent of board independence, size, leverage or profitability and that MLs were committed to the cause of environmental sustainability.

Using legitimacy theory, this study investigates the extent of social and environmental disclosure (SED) of Indian textile firms over the 2010-2012 period and the factors that explain such disclosure practices. Firm-level characteristics and corporate governance variables are incorporated as key predictors for these important disclosures. This study reveals a relatively low extent of 13.57% of SED in annual reports of Indian textile firms. This finding of low overall voluntary disclosure is largely consistent with the previous studies particularly in the emerging economies setting. The results show that firm size, international brand, audit committee independence, CEO duality, profitability, international certification obtained and year of reporting are statistically significant factors in explaining the variation in extent of SED. Potential concern may arise from such a lack corporate communication related to social or environmental activities and risks as it may lead to questions whether firms domiciled in India and their international brand-name affiliations have been transparent and accountable regarding their production and supply activities. The theoretical contribution of this study is the successful testing of legitimacy theory in the context of an emerging economy. This study highlights the influence of international exposures such as brand development and corporate governance attributes have on the SED communication practices. The dearth of social and environmental disclosure by Indian textile firms has implications for foreign purchasers of branded products as international companies have been implicated in sub-optimal social or environmental practices or incidents. Such international brand-name companies may be responsible for such breaches and face significant adverse publicity if negative social or environmental impacts or breaches of rules or regulations are found subsequent to the supply of these textile products. Significant negative media publicity may have unfavourable consequences on the reputation of these firms and their directors as well as their long-term financial performance. Firms with branded textile products likely use disclosure as an important means to promote an image of them being forward thinking socially and environmentally responsible entities for preserving their legitimacy status. This research offers empirical evidence in regard to social and environmental (SED) practices that may assist regulatory bodies to introduce more focused and effective non-financial disclosure guidelines and regulations.